Code replacement or some other workflow enhancement

[TiggerGTO]

For the captioning and kewording I have been doing lately, I end up wanting to set the caption via a code replacement, and also append to the keywords via another code replacement.

For example, I use /cs20/ to set the caption for player number 20, and /ks20/ to append the number=20, name=xxx for player number 20.  In case it is not obvious, I set up the code replacement delimiter to be / instead of \ since I find the regular slash easier to type.  To make things slightly more complicated, there is already some data in the keywords field that got added during the ingest step, so I need to move the cursor to the end of the keywords field to get my additional data added on correctly.

To do this update, I have one of two choices.  I can make a pass through the files and navigate back and forth between the caption and keyword fields on the metadata panel.  Alternatively, I can make two passes through the files, first updating the captions and then updating the keywords.  I tend to use the first method because it seems to require less thinking because I only have to recognize/identify the player once, but requires more mouse and cursor movement.

It would be nice if I could make a single pass through the files and get both pieces of data entered without having to navigate back and forth between the caption and keyword fields.  There was a previous discussion about code replacements that handled columns.  Would it be possible to have code replacements that entered data in multiple fields?  Based on how I think the code replacements function is implemented, I doubt this is feasible.  Another possibility would be a keyboard macro facility of some sort that would handle entering two slightly different code replacements (i.e. cs20 vs ks20) in two different fields.  So, entering /s20/ would be the equivalent of: navigate to caption field, enter /cs20/, navigate to keywords field, move to the end of the existing text, enter /ks20/.

If nothing else, does anybody have suggestions for quicker and easier ways of entering player based captions and keywords.  I'd collapse down to a single field if I could, but the print fulfillment service that I am using sort of forces me to use these two fields.  The caption field gets displayed in the online albums, and the keyword structure is used to make the pictures searchable.

Thanks,
Danny

[Kirk Baker]

Danny,

For the captioning and kewording I have been doing lately, I end up wanting to set the caption via a code replacement, and also append to the keywords via another code replacement.

For example, I use /cs20/ to set the caption for player number 20, and /ks20/ to append the number=20, name=xxx for player number 20.  In case it is not obvious, I set up the code replacement delimiter to be / instead of \ since I find the regular slash easier to type.  To make things slightly more complicated, there is already some data in the keywords field that got added during the ingest step, so I need to move the cursor to the end of the keywords field to get my additional data added on correctly.

To do this update, I have one of two choices.  I can make a pass through the files and navigate back and forth between the caption and keyword fields on the metadata panel.  Alternatively, I can make two passes through the files, first updating the captions and then updating the keywords.  I tend to use the first method because it seems to require less thinking because I only have to recognize/identify the player once, but requires more mouse and cursor movement.

It would be nice if I could make a single pass through the files and get both pieces of data entered without having to navigate back and forth between the caption and keyword fields.  There was a previous discussion about code replacements that handled columns.  Would it be possible to have code replacements that entered data in multiple fields?  Based on how I think the code replacements function is implemented, I doubt this is feasible.  Another possibility would be a keyboard macro facility of some sort that would handle entering two slightly different code replacements (i.e. cs20 vs ks20) in two different fields.  So, entering /s20/ would be the equivalent of: navigate to caption field, enter /cs20/, navigate to keywords field, move to the end of the existing text, enter /ks20/.

If nothing else, does anybody have suggestions for quicker and easier ways of entering player based captions and keywords.  I'd collapse down to a single field if I could, but the print fulfillment service that I am using sort of forces me to use these two fields.  The caption field gets displayed in the online albums, and the keyword structure is used to make the pictures searchable.

Your example is simple enough to do in one pass with the current capabilities.  In your first pass, put the number in some unused field like "Object Name".  Then use the IPTC Stationery Pad with the append checkbox set in both the Caption and the Keywords field.  In the Caption field enter /cs{object}/ and in the Keywords field enter /ks{object}/ and then apply the IPTC Stationery Pad.

That should do it.

-Kirk

[TiggerGTO]

Kirk,
I never would have thought about doing the equivalent of setting a variable and then running the Stationery Pad against that variable to do code replacements in multiple fields.  Very cool!!!

The only drawback that I can think of is that you lose the instant feedback of the code replacement expanding as you type it.   I catch lots of typing errors when a code replacement doesn't expand or expands unexpectedly to the wrong name.  The indirection of setting another field to use as a variable prevents this instant feedback.

In any event, I definitely plan to try this technique the next time I shoot a game.

Thanks,
Danny

[runner]

Danny
I check for errors by custom sorting the images, get the sort correct & i find the errors tend be the top or bottom of the contact sheet.

[TiggerGTO]

Thanks for the suggestion... I'll give it a try.

Danny